Month: January 2017

Vegan Dining: The Grange

Ever since we moved to this area my husband and I have been trying to explore Providence as much as possible.  It’s ridiculously easy for us to get into the city.  Without traffic we can be there in about 15-20 minutes.  We’re lucky to have some vegan friends that are familiar with the area and had some great recommendations for us.  Our favorite as been The Grange by far.

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We’ve been there a few times, including once for brunch which was outstanding (even though I was super queasy!).  The atmosphere is cozy with a nice rustic feel.  Everything on the menu is either vegan or vegetarian, which is always liberating.  They also have a full bar and an excellent beer menu (not that I’ve been indulging lately).  I did take a few smells of my hubby’s beer which is ALMOST as good as drinking it…right?

Our most recently visit to The Grange was a Wednesday afternoon over vacation.  We dropped in between lunch and dinner time so the place was pretty empty which was nice.  They were featuring their bar menu at the time which had plenty of options.  I also appreciate that they have fresh smoothies and juices.  I ordered their red juice, I could have had three of them.

Every time we visit The Grange we start off with the Sweet Chili Cauliflower.  This time that we ordered it it was the best we’ve had.  The peanut sauce was outstanding and addictive.  I feel inspired to recreate it!  It’s funny how I’ve been seeing cauliflower on menus everywhere, even non veggie places.  It’s truly a versatile vegetable!

The Soy Bean and I were craving seitan so I ordered the General Tso’s Tacos.  I’ve ordered this a few times, so it’s been a staple for me.  The seitan was nice and juicy, it’s almost like eating real meat (almost).

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My husband doesn’t venture too far either when we dine at The Grange, he usually opts for the Po Boy, which he ordered and generously allowed me to sneak a couple of bits.  He’s usually not a fan of mushrooms but this dish features oyster mushrooms and he loves it.  I’m personally a fan of the pretzel bun.

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So if you every find yourself in the Providence area be sure to check out The Grange, it’s the perfect spot for brunch, dinner, or even just apps and drinks.

 

 

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Blueberry Scones

We’ve been enjoying The Crown at our house, I introduced my husband to crumpets, and I’ve been drinking lots of tea.  I guess we have a bit of a British theme going on here.

I was inspired to make some scones today, and I’m pretty proud about how they came out. Now that I’m feeling better I’m back in the kitchen, I also have a bit of a sweet tooth this pregnancy and have been gravitating towards baking.  We have lots of blueberries in our freezer so yesterday I cranked out some blueberry coconut pancakes and today I felt inspired to make some scones.

I love a good scone.  Apparently so does Soy Bean.

Ingredients

  • 4 cups of flour
  • 6 tablespoons of sugar
  • 4.5 teaspoons baking powder
  • 2 flax eggs
  • 1/2 cup and 2 tablespoons of cold vegan butter
  • 1 cup of frozen blueberries
  • 1.5 teaspoons salt
  • 3/4 cup and 2 tablespoons plain almond milk
  • 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

For the glaze

  • 1 cup of powdered sugar
  • 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
  • 2 tablespoons melted coconut oil

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  First, make your flax eggs (three tablespoons of water and one tablespoon flaxseed meal = one egg) and set aside in a bowl.  In a large bowl combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Add the cold butter to the dry ingredients.  Take a fork and cut up the butter until your mixture resembles wet sand.  Whisk together 3/4 cup of milk and flax egg and add to the bowl.  Mix together and add the remaining 2 tablespoons of almond milk and lemon juice.  Fold in your blueberries.  On a well floured surface kneed your dough and flatten into an about 8 inch circle.  Cut your dough with a pizza cutter into eight triangles.  Place the individual triangles on a baking sheet.  I lined mine with aluminum foil lightly coated with flour.  Bake for 30 minutes.

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Once your scones are baked and cooled, combine powdered sugar, fresh lemon juice and coconut oil to make a glaze.  Top your scones with the glaze, try to do a better job than I did.

I was pretty proud with how these came out. My husband and split one to taste test, he approved.  I think I will be looking forward to breakfast this week!  Enjoy!

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Checking In…

One of my goals for the new year was to blog more, apparently I’m already failing at that!  It’s been a busy January with lots to do at work and busy weekends seeing friends and family.  We chose to hibernate for MLK day and I’ve been enjoying it even though I always feel like I should be doing more.

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We started today off with a delicious juice.  I’ve been juicing quite a bit this pregnancy every since my husband retrieved his old juice from his parents’ basement.  Juicing can be time consuming, messy, expensive…but so delicious, and honestly after  I drink a fresh juice I feel rejuvenated.  I’ve been gravitating towards apple, carrot and ginger juices.  I usually like to add something green in there like kale, but I didn’t grab any this weekend during my grocery haul.  Today I did throw a lemon in there.  I could drink this everyday, though I know I should try to balance it more with leafy dark greens.

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I ventured out to Target to grab a shower liner (it wouldn’t be a weekend with at least one trip to Target).  I was going to check out Bed Bath and Beyond but honestly I was SO hungry.  I’m adjusting to my rediscovered appetite.  After months of feeling constantly queasy it’s nice to finally feel the desire for food again, even though I go from zero to ravenous rather quickly.  I had to go home to make lunch, I need to eat or else I’ll feel sick and if you ask my husband…hangry!

Yesterday we visited my brother and his partner and went out for dinner at Red Lentil.  I’ve done a write up for Red Lentil on here before and it did not disappoint.  I didn’t take a picture of it, but we order the vegan nachos for an appetizer and it was awesome!  The hubby and I have a gift card and we will be ordering those again next time we are there.  I got the shepard’s pie, which was delicious and huge!  My husband had the leftovers for lunch today, easy work for me!

Hence the hibernating of today…I did do some laundry and made scones that I will share on here.  Also, got in some puggle snuggles.

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